Continuous advancements in technology have led to the development of TVs that are increasingly thin and which produce more and more life-like picture quality. However, with such advancements, there are issues surrounding how to provide equally impressive sound. Speakers typically require a significant amount of space to provide quality audio. However, today's flat screen TVs fail to provide adequate space. Typically, with such flat screen TVs, small built-in speakers are placed on the back or bottom of the TV. However, these small speakers directed at the wall or floor are generally lacking from most consumers' perspectives. Thus, there is a need for a sound system separate from such TVs to provide high-quality audio.
One solution is to provide a sound system that involves strategic placement of multiple speakers around the room. While this certainly can provide excellent audio, it is not necessarily aesthetically pleasing, and there is the added challenge of running wires to the speakers as well as the significant expense.
Another solution is the sound bar, which is a simple way to provide high-quality sound without taking up too much space and without becoming too costly. These sound bars are typically long and relatively thin, and can be mounted on the wall (e.g., below a wall mounted flat screen TV) or on a shelf below the TV.
The use of sound bars provides increased volume, range, clarity, and fullness to the audio output. For example, sound bars can advantageously be designed and placed to reflect sound off walls, which can trick a listener into thinking that there are speakers all around. Some sound bars are designed to enhance voice dialogue, which makes voices stand out more than other sounds being output. Sound bars can also be provided with volume leveling, which prevents the volume of commercials from being louder than that of the program being viewed.
Most sound bars house two to five speakers (although some may have more) in a single elongate enclosure. For example, more basic sound bars are typically provided with 2.1 channels, containing two speakers with a separate subwoofer. More complex sound bars may be provided with multi-channels, e.g., up to five or seven audio channels, with discrete sounds for each channel, to provide an enhanced surround sound effect.
FIG. 1 shows a standard front facing sound bar 1 having a generally elongate rectangular structure with a front surface 2, bottom surface 3, back surface 4, and top surface 5. As shown, a plurality of speakers 6 are disposed in the front surface 2. Due to the design and positioning of the speakers 6, this type of sound bar 1 is generally mounted on a table or shelf below a TV with the bottom surface 3 resting on the table or shelf, or it can be wall mounted with the back surface 4 mounted on the wall. When thus mounted, the audio output is directed from the speakers 6 on the front surface 2 in a generally forward direction perpendicular to the front surface 2, as indicated by the arrow. As such, the audio output travels towards listeners, who are typically seated in front of the TV and the sound bar 1. This direction of audio output allows the sound to bounce off walls in the room to provide a listener with a feeling of surround sound.
It would be desirable to provide a sound bar that further enhances a TV viewer's audio experience by providing sound that not only travels toward the viewer (i.e., in a generally horizontal direction away from the sound bar and towards the walls in a room), but that also travels upwards towards the ceiling. This would provide a signal that bounces off walls of a room as well as off the ceiling, thus, making the sound more realistic. It would be highly desirable to further provide for 3D sound audio processing which will give a listener the added sensation of height speakers for a more realistic sound.
A sound bar 10 having both front directed (i.e., generally horizontal) and upward directed (i.e., generally vertical) audio output has recently been proposed, wherein a plurality of speakers 16 are provided on both a front surface 12 and a top surface 15, as shown in FIG. 2. However, this design can be bulky when mounted on a wall or when positioned on a table or shelf. In particular, when mounted on a table or shelf, the bottom surface 13 must have a large enough area so that the device is stably positioned. Also, the bottom surface 13 is opposite the top surface 15, which has a plurality of speakers 16 disposed therein. Thus, the top surface 15 must be adequately sized to house the speakers 16—and, as a result, the opposing bottom surface 13 is equally large. Similarly, the back surface 14 must be large enough so that the device can be stably mounted on the wall. In addition, the front surface 12 must be adequately sized to house the speakers 16—and, as a result, the opposing back surface 14 is equally large. Further, this type of sound bar 10 design has the added drawback in that when it is mounted on a table or shelf below a TV or on the wall below a TV, the audio output from the top surface 15 speakers 16 can be partially blocked and muffled by the TV and/or any additional shelving disposed above the sound bar 10.
Flat sound bars 20, such as those shown in FIGS. 3A-3B have been designed to provide a user with a sleeker look. An example of a horizontal (e.g., table) mounted flat sound bar 20 is shown in FIG. 3A, with the bottom surface 23 being mounted on the horizontal surface. Because of the narrow thickness, this design is conducive to speaker 26 placement on the top surface 25 only. This results in audio output from the sound bar 20 in an upwards direction toward the ceiling and not toward a listener. However, when this sound bar 20 is mounted on a table or shelf below a TV, the audio output from the top surface 25 speakers 16 can be partially blocked and muffled by the TV and/or any additional shelving disposed above the sound bar 20. An example of a vertical (e.g., wall) mounted flat sound bar 20 is shown in FIG. 3B. In this configuration, the speakers 16 are disposed in the front surface 22, and the back surface 24 is mounted on a wall. This provides the generally desired audio output toward a listener and the walls in a room (i.e., generally horizontal). However, with such a flat sound bar 20 design, regardless of mounting style, it is not possible to dispose speakers in both a forward and upward facing direction of a single sound bar 20 to provide improved audio output given the narrow thickness of the structure.
It would be desirable to provide an improved sound bar design that could be mounted on either a table/shelf or on a wall, and which provides audio output in multiple directions. It would further be desirable to provide such a sound bar design that is 3D sound capable.